Berkeley's Phantasmagoria

[Serela]

> "That's not supposed to happen is it..."

>Veronica stammers out "N-no, it's not..."

>Frown.
>Any signs of activity? Or footprints in the snow?
>How deep does it look?

>You frown, examining the snow. You don't see any footsteps, and the snow looks like it's probably about half a foot deep.

> "Um... this is bad, right? Should we head to the person in charge to try and figure things out, or should we try to help the masses?"

That last bit is if it looks like a lot of snow, like a real world Snow Day amount or sumthin.

>"There isn't any footsteps in the snow. I don't see anyone. And it's snowed over the entire town. This is... beyond bad."
>Dotsy looks around, worried, before saying "Maybe I should head back and tell the other fairies about this, and the spider, and that lady... lots of bad things are happening today!"

[Hello Purvis]

>Look at Dotsy. "Wait, don't go alone. It might be dangerous, still."
>"Okay, so there's no footprints. That says either the snow is really fresh, or they're staying indoors. Man, wish I had a coat..."
>Check the rooftops, are any chimneys present and smoking? Or smokeholes in the roof, or whatever architectural oddity they may use to dispense with smoke.

[Serela]

>Look at Dotsy. "Wait, don't go alone. It might be dangerous, still."
>"Okay, so there's no footprints. That says either the snow is really fresh, or they're staying indoors. Man, wish I had a coat..."
>Check the rooftops, are any chimneys present and smoking? Or smokeholes in the roof, or whatever architectural oddity they may use to dispense with smoke.

>Now she looks even more worried. "Okay, I'll stay with you two for now! You can protect me!"
>You voice your thoughts on the matter. You ARE wearing a coat, by the way; although it's meant more for pockets and style then for warmth. It'll keep you from getting really cold, at least.
>You don't see anything moving at all, including any smoke or lights in windows. There are chimneys on the buildings, however.

_{Aaaand bedtime for me~}

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod to Dotsy, "If you get too cold down there, you can snuggle up in my coat."
>Look down at the valley again. "I don't think anyone's down there... No activity at all."

[Serela]

>Nod to Dotsy, "If you get too cold down there, you can snuggle up in my coat."
>Look down at the valley again. "I don't think anyone's down there... No activity at all."

>The fairy looks doubtful, but agrees.
>"There has to be people in there. A whole town doesn't just disappear! Although... they may have evacuated to somewhere else, perhaps?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Let's go find out."
>Presuming she agrees, descend.

[Serela]

>"Let's go find out."
>Presuming she agrees, descend.

>The three of you begin the descent down the slope. The temperature steadily begins dropping, but for now, everyone still feels fine.
>By the time you reach the entrance of Wintervale, you and Veronica are walking through quite a bit of snow. Strangely, it still doesn't feel like the temperature is below freezing; but the snow is still as cold as snow should be, and it's making your feet chilly.
>Walking into the town, you still see no signs of recent life. Veronica is starting to look a bit scared, peeking over her shoulder to make sure nothing's sneaking up behind.

[Hello Purvis]

>Keeping eyes everywhere is a good idea.
>Look around for some kind of public facility; a store or inn or tavern or summat.
>Compare the town's size to Veronica's hometown.

[Serela]

>Keeping eyes everywhere is a good idea.
>Look around for some kind of public facility; a store or inn or tavern or summat.
>Compare the town's size to Veronica's hometown.

>Yeah, this place has a bit of a weird vibe.
>There doesn't seem to be an inn, but you do find what you're pretty sure are a store and tavern very soon after entering; you don't have to look for more then a minute to find them. They're dark inside, and seem as lifeless as the lightly falling snow.
>This is Veronica's hometown, silly! She told you that most people living in the village had moved from here; except for Demitri, Gestrel, and Azalea. This place is waaay bigger then the village, though.

[Hello Purvis]

>Well she's not living here now, isn't she?
>Go into the store, look for peoples.

[Serela]

>Well she's not living here now, isn't she?
>Go into the store, look for peoples.

>True, but your hometown isn't determined by where you currently live!
>The three of you enter the store. You see many tables and shelves that you assume previously held merchandise, but now they're all empty.
>You don't see anyone, nor any doors to a different room, so you assume whoever ran the store probably lived in a different building.
>"This is creepy." says Veronica, and the fairy nods in agreement.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Very... Let's go check some houses. Or...hey, maybe where that crystal they were using to keep the winter out is?"

[Serela]

>"Very... Let's go check some houses. Or...hey, maybe where that crystal they were using to keep the winter out is?"

>Veronica looks a bit puzzled at this. "Crystal? Nah, we just used magical barriers kept in place by some of the town's skilled magic users. We should check the houses, though; they're in the west part of town, from the Town Square."
>You think you saw the town square straight ahead of the entrance; you haven't been there yet though. The store and tavern were close to the entrance, so you haven't seen the rest of town.

[Hello Purvis]

>I swear to god she said there was an artifact they used. And so help me if I look back there and find that history has changed on me, it's LEIPZIG TIME.
>Head for the square, and then west if town square isn't that exciting.

[Serela]

>I swear to god she said there was an artifact they used. And so help me if I look back there and find that history has changed on me, it's LEIPZIG TIME.
>Head for the square, and then west if town square isn't that exciting.

Don't worry, I don't change history around! It's worth noting though, that I tend to forget stuff/notice bad grammar and edit the update within a minute of posting. (which doesn't make "last edited etc." show up.)

>Well, now that you think about it, she did mention a jewel used to teleport stuff from here to the village.
_{And yes, I did forget that existed, good thing you made me check back on that @_@}
>The three of you head back outside and enter the town square. From here, you see a northern exit to the village, and two large paths heading east and west. Oh, and there's a bloody mutilated corpse here, too.
>wait what
>As they notice it, Veronica gapes and Dotsy lets out a shriek.

[Hello Purvis]

>OH GOD GET IT AWAY!
>Have a go at unintentionally harmonizing shrieks with Dotsy.
>Take several steps back.
>Stare and jaw drop.
>Try to figure out what happened, despite horrification.

[Kasu]

> "Aw DAMMIT."

[Serela]

>OH GOD GET IT AWAY!
>Have a go at unintentionally harmonizing shrieks with Dotsy.
>Take several steps back.
>Stare and jaw drop.
>Try to figure out what happened, despite horrification.

>OH GOD BLOODY CORPSE
>You succeed quite well at this. Although you suppose it isn't very unintentional anymore.
>You're pretty sure you accidently did this while you were screaming, actually!
>D:
>You examine it... from a distance. It looks kind of like something had been eating everything out of the body, without finishing. Uuuuugh, you think you might throw up...

> "Aw DAMMIT."

>Seriously, this is going to ruin your whole day. Oh, wait, that's already happened a few times in the past few hours... you don't have to worry about it anymore, then! But still, gross.

[Hello Purvis]

>DO NOT LOOK AT IT ANYMORE.
>"I don't wanna go this way anymore... We can go around, right?"

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Approach the body, determine gender and say a prayer for the poor soul.

> "Does that person look familiar?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Approach the body, determine gender and say a prayer for the poor soul.

> "Does that person look familiar?"

>We do not need to approach that body. Veronica can tell us who it is, and we can say a prayer for it just fine, right here, facing an unrelated direction.

[Serela]

>DO NOT LOOK AT IT ANYMORE.
>"I don't wanna go this way anymore... We can go around, right?"

>AUUUGH BUT IT'S SO TERRIBLE AND YOU CAN'T STOP STARING AND ITS JUST RIGHT THERE
>Veronica sympathizes with you. "Yeah, it's just kinda in the middle so we can... walk around it... reaaaally wide berth..."

> Approach the body, determine gender and say a prayer for the poor soul.

> "Does that person look familiar?"

>You doubt you could do the first two, but you do attempt to do a prayer. You're not sure if you did it right, but you tried; and that's what really counts, right?
>Veronica shakes her head. "I... well, I can't really tell at all what it looked like before!"

>We do not need to approach that body. Veronica can tell us who it is, and we can say a prayer for it just fine, right here, facing an unrelated direction.

>This, so bad. Although Veronica can't tell who it is anyway, soooo... what were we doing here, again? Now that you've turned around in a different direction, you manage to collect your thoughts.

[Hello Purvis]

>"West, right? Let's go west. The long way..."

[COPIRIGHTO]

>take a look at the corpse if it's someone we recognize

[Serela]

>"West, right? Let's go west. The long way..."

>take a look at the corpse if it's someone we recognize

>Veronica nods, although still quite obviously shaken up by the corpse.
>As the three of you go around the square in a western direction, you take another look at the corpse; you don't recognize it at all. Then again, it'd be almost impossible to recognize anyone in that state... much of the flesh has been at least partially eaten, an-oh god you feel like throwing up again.

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "Thats two. How many people lived in this town? Cause at this rate, we will probly find at least 4, maybe more, people like this before we find someone alive and unhurt.

[Hello Purvis]

>Keep going, toward the original goal. Try not to be too distraught as to not pay attention to the surroundings.
>Be distraught, though. Because this isn't fun anymore...

[Serela]

> "Thats two. How many people lived in this town? Cause at this rate, we will probly find at least 4, maybe more, people like this before we find someone alive and unhurt.

>Huh. You've only seen one corpse! So far, at least. Judging from the size of the town though, you guess a whole bunch of people must have lived here.
>"I wonder what killed that person..." Veronica wonders aloud. "It looks like whatever it was ate a lot of the body, but, left a bunch too; that's kinda weird, most creatures wouldn't waste their food like that."
>Dotsy pipes in with a suggestion... kind of. "Maybe they were eaten by cannonballs!" You think she means cannibals, but, yeah.

>Keep going, toward the original goal. Try not to be too distraught as to not pay attention to the surroundings.
>Be distraught, though. Because this isn't fun anymore...

>You continue on west from the town square, ignoring the corpse. Although, you're still all like "uwaaaah" from it and stuff. I mean its a CORPSE that looks like it was PARTIALLY EATEN by CANNONBALLS CANNIBALS
>Heading west, you reach what you believe is the section of town where most of the houses were; it should be so, at least. Assuming Veronica is correct. You think you can see something moving ahead.
>Obvious directions from here would be entering the houses, going further down the street, or back to the square.

[Hello Purvis]

>STOP!
>Listen!
>Watch that motion, and identify what it is.
>Palm that orb. Why didn't we do this before? Oh yes, because we're a nub at this.

[Kasu]

> "Shite.  Please tell me someone else saw that."